Wizards chess
by marrissa gnokawitz
Summary: A story. Quite a long story, of last names and old battle scars and people who know you better then anyone even when they barley know you at all. It's also about  playing  a game called chess. Wizards Chess. And those who play it. #


_**Edit: N/A It is now ¾ months later and I just randomly remembered this story, am now going to edit it and publish it!**_

_**N/A I should be doing homework since it shall be graded as my final grade in reading, it's a big project and I've barley done any. It's due tomorrow. I should at least be writing something for Not So Magical since everyone wants me to but I wont. I for some reason really want to write something sad…..**_

It hurts him so much inside to see grandpa and his dad playing wizards chess with their sleeves rolled up, because it exposes the tattoo on there arms. The two tattoos on there forearms, the ones that match _perfectly. _He remembers asking when he was younger, much younger, if it really was what the other kid's parents said it was. Answer: Yes.

It hurt so much to sit with _her _on the train on the way to Hogwarts for the first time. He didn't know they'd end up best friends; all he knew then was she was the only one who wasn't too afraid to sit with him. The only one who didn't listen when the other's "warned" her about him.

"He's a Malfoy that one, two generations of death eater in that family there is." She only laughed when they told her that he probably knew a ton of dangerous curses and jinxes already and was prepared to throw them at her at any moment if she bothered him in the slightest way. He just thought back to what his dad had said .

"It's all behind us now, in the past. At least, for me it is. Scorpios no mater what they say about me, please don't spend all your time trying to be what your father was. I made that mistake. Trust me no matter what you do I'll be happy with it." He had told his son. "Unless of course you act the way I did."

His father had then smiled and he had smiled as well.

He was staring blankly out the window on the train now, though. Not a hint of emotion on his face. He was hoping to Merlin he wasn't put in Slytherin. She looked at him and told him:

"Families usually define almost nothing about a person. I learned you get to choose who you are, no matter what your last name is."

He had stayed silent and continued staring out the window.

"Well most of the time, sometimes fate throws a bludger at you and you can't always dodge it."

He thought his fate was to be put in Slytherin, hang out with future dark wizards and have almost everyone in the school hate/fear him. No matter what she or his dad told him.

Both he and she were sorted into Ravenclaw, something he totally never expected to happen. He did however expect everyone to be not exactly silent when he was sorted. He expected the whispering Hufflepuff, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables saying things like " Why bother sorting him just send him right over to the Slytherin table!" and whispers from the Slytherin table saying "Finally someone with some obvious potential!" And "Ahh a Malfoy, we've waited a while for this one to come along."

When he sat down at the table everyone seemed to tense up. She followed right after him sat down right next to him and sighed.

"I was scared to death of what I'd end up in." She whispered. "Not nearly as scared as you looked though." She added smiling.

He nodded.

"No one **was **more scared and **is **more scared then me about how this will turn out." He replied. He had remained silent the entire train ride so the reply momentarily shocked her.

"I'm sure they'll accept you soon enough" She said gesturing to the rest at the table. They were eyeing him suspiciously and whispering to each others.

He sighed.

"It's not the Ravenclaw's that I'm worried about." He turned away from her and let his thoughts wander. He wanted to be happy about his house placement but he still felt sad and worried inside. She watched as he gazed towards the Slytherin, who at the moment were complaining to each other angrily.

His classes were with Ravenclaw's mostly. Any he had with Slytherin however, he sat with them instead. They accepted him happily claiming that the Ravenclaw's had "stolen him" from them. Everyone still knew despite the sorting he "belonged" to Slytherin.

He ignored the girl from the train still not knowing her name and not bothering to find out. His "friends" didn't like her so he decided he shouldn't either.

At the first quidditch game of the season it was Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin. He sat with the Slytherin's and half-heatedly rooted for them with his the rest of the house. With every trick they played and illegal maneuver they used he went along with everyone when they claimed it wasn't cheating and joked and laughed with everyone when they said:

"It's not cheating it's just the Slytherin method, if you fall for our tricks and can't follow our "complex" maneuvers well, then you don't _deserve_ to beat us."

**She **tried approaching him after the game, she looked extremely unhappy. They had barley talked in practically two months. Only doing so when he was in her way or he needed to know home work in a class. Every time she even tried to approach him he just ignored her, or if he was with Slytherin they got rid of her. They didn't like her; she tried to steal him back to the Ravenclaw's.

His "friends" taunted her as she walked towards him and she ignored them. She seemed to not hear them at all.

"Hello, Scorpios" She said to him simply.

"Malfoy," He replied. "I go by my last name. I much prefer it over my first." It hurt him to say it, especially to the one person he knew saw through him. But he somehow managed to keep an emotionless face.

"Last names define almost nothing; they certainly shouldn't be a title for one to be called by." She said annoyed gripping her books tightly to her chest. She looked him right in the eye. He nervously looked past her down the hill.

"Aw just leave and stop bugging him nerd." one of his "friends" groaned suddenly.

"I'm not a nerd." She replied not sounding the least bit defensive, her voice serious and calm as she turned her head to look at the boy.

"All Ravenclaw's are nerds," Said another one of his "friends." "Everyone knows that!" Chuckling to themselves Scorpios and the others turned their backs towards her started to walk up the hill away from the quidditch pitch but then she said something that caused the Malfoy to stop.

"So then I guess you're a nerd too Scorpios."

He turned to face her, an impatient look on his face. "I'm not a-"

"The sorting hat is never wrong." She interrupted him. One of his friends was about to say something but she lifted her hand and continued. "Fate has thrown you some big and nasty bludgers, but if you try hard enough I bet you can dodge them."

She then turned away and walked over to a group of laughing Ravenclaw's and Gryffindor's. Only to leave a Scorpios who wanted to follow her and his "friends" who wanted to know what the heck she was talking about.

He felt like his heart was empty. He felt like a hollow shell on the outside, displaying : supposedly a Slytherin, possibly a Ravenclaw. But what was on the inside?

He nervously approached her in the common room. It was quite late at night; he had just gotten back from the dungeons. She was reading a large old looking leather bound book while sitting comfortably in a large also leather, also old, blue chair.

"I'm really sorry." He said breaking the silence of the room. " You have every right to be mad and upset with me." He sighed as he sat down in the chair next to her. She didn't reply at first and he was worried she wouldn't bother too at all. As he got up to leave she spoke suddenly.

"I'm not mad at you Scorpios." She said. "And I'm most certainly not upset."

"Really?" He replied honestly surprised. She closed her book and smiled at him.

"I know why you keep avoiding me and I know why you hang out with those jerks." She replied. "You don't have too, you know that don't you?" He stared past her to an open window. It was raining.

"Everyone just expects me to..." He sighed. "be, well…."

She shook her head and smiled agian.

"Not everyone Scorpios, I don't. And the professors and the other houses only do because you're making them think so." She told him.

He knew she was right and that made him feel even worse about how he had been acting.

"My dad and my grandpa like to play wizards chess sometimes, my grandpa likes the violence and my dad likes to think." He said staring at the window.

She listened to him as he told her about how there dark marks showed when they rolled there sleeves up.

"I thought dark marks faded." She said briefly interrupting him.

"They're supposed to but "He" wanted to make sure some of his servants were a little more attached then others. Their mark will last till the day they die." He remembered his dad describing the dark mark to him a few years ago…

"It's sort of like a scar son, an old battle wound I got from a battle fought long ago. A battle I wouldn't admit I didn't want to fight. A battle in a war where I wanted nothing more then for my side to lose, a war I was practically forced into by my father whose wish was the exact opposite to mine. His scar represents a career of dark beliefs, bad decisions and a battle lost. Mine is a bit different you see, it represents a life of untrue beliefs, unwise decisions and though it may seem like I too lost a battle, if I had won it I can hardly imagine the misery I would be facing now. Heck if I wasn't dead by now it would be a miracle! I probably wouldn't have ended up with your mother and that means you wouldn't even exist. Strange isn't it? Because of how much I resent this scar I ended up with a family. " His father had rolled his eyes and smiled a bit. " Or whatever the bloody 'ell we are."

Scorpios liked his dad's perspective on the whole ordeal. He liked it a lot. She seemed to as well for when Scorpios described what his father had told him she smiled warmly. He found it hard to believe they were that same age, she seemed so much older, wiser in fact.

Neither spoke for a while when he finished. He watched her. She seemed sort of pleased. With her self or with him though? He wasn't exactly sure.

"Do you _like_ wizard's chess?" She asked suddenly after moments of silence. Scorpios blushed.

"I...I don't actually... Know how to play." He mumbled. "I've watched so many games and I can tell who wins and who loses but…"

"I'm going to teach you!" She exclaimed suddenly. He gave her a questioning glance. "Your father sounds like the type who would get a real chuckle at getting beaten at wizard's chess by his own son." Scorpios made no comment but merely watched as she stood up quickly and ran upstairs.

She returned shortly with a large wooden box.

"See this?" She asked thrusting it slightly in his direction. He nodded. "This," She smiled mischievously, "is going to make you a Ravenclaw!"

From then on to a week later whenever he returned from the dungeons no matter how late it was, there she was. Sitting in her chair, with her book, the Wizards chess board all set up on the coffee table. She trained him for hours in the rules of the game and different maneuvers one could use to win easily. He claimed it was against his will but after a few days he actually began to look forward to leaving the dungeons. There was always the small chance he would beat her. The mere thought excited him. His "friends" started to get suspicious.

Exactly one week from his apology to her a problem arose. The problems name was Laura Stravinsky. A nice enough girl, smart, pretty, clever, a true Ravanclaw to heart.

Her one issue however, was that she was notoriously competitive. She was most competitive when it came to people, most of all boys, boys she fancied.

For some strange reason one particular boy she fancied was a boy by the name of Malfoy. Scorpios Malfoy. And one night, four days after the first quidditch game, she went down to the common room to retrieve a charms textbook late at night only to see this particular boy (Scorpios Malfoy,) playing (and losing,) a game of wizard's chess, with some random girl! A girl that Scorpios' "friends" did not like at all.

Laura, being the girl she was, strait away acquired a disliking for this girl as well. She concocted a scheme to get rid of her quick and easy starting off by making her way to the Slytherin table at breakfast.

"John Daranella?" She asked a tall skinny boy sitting across from Scorpios. The boy turned to her, realized it was a girl, looked her up and down, realized it was a girl who was younger then him and sighed.

"Yes?" He replied. She looked behind him slightly to check if Scorpios was paying attention. He was to busy talking to notice her at all. Perfect.

"Your friends with Malfoy correct?" She asked demandingly. He nodded and shrugged in a "so what" fashion. "Then can I ask you a question about his girlfriend?" She asked. The boy's eyebrows shot up. He looked at Scorpios and back to the girl. This interested him.

"Girlfriend? Malfoy has a girlfriend does he? I haven't heard a thing about her from him." He whispered jabbing his thumb towards the boy in question. She nodded thoughtfully but on the inside she was smiling wickedly.

"That's probably why there so secretive." She whispered looking like she had just realized something shocking.

"Secretive?" John asked curiously. She Nodded.

"Late at night when he gets back from the dungeons he meets up with her in the Ravenclaw common room. Almost every night this week I believe." She told him. He looked at Scorpios from the corner of his eye curiously.

"You don't say?" He asked her. "I think the other boy's would be most interested in this." She smiled.

"It is interesting isn't it? I can sneak a few of you into the common room to watch them tonight if you want. Then you can tell me what you think about it." She whispered.

"Yes, yes, tonight. Meet some of us at the door to the Ravenclaw common room around 11'o clock. He usually leaves at eleven thirty." He nodded.

"Make that ten thirty." She replied. "She usually goes down to wait for him at about ten forty-five. Theirs a large book case I can fit about five people behind at most. We can be perfectly concealed and still be able to watch everything they might do and hear every word they say." She explained. He grinned wickedly and stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"See you then."

_Laura Stravinsky. _ He thought. _ Clever girl, could almost be a Ravenclaw._

Eleven forty five exactly, four people are crouching behind a bookcase, one girl sitting comfortably in a large blue chair with a smile on her face and a quill in her hand. She's quietly writing a letter as they watch her trying not to make a sound. A boy walks in to the Ravenclaw common room, his footsteps making the only sound besides the faint scratch of feather on parchment in the last hour or so. The people behind the bookcase look on eagerly as she greets him.

"Right on time Scorpios," She smiled at him warmly. "How were the dungeons?" He shrugged. She positioned herself a bit closer to the edge of her seat leaning down to place the parchment and quill on the coffee table. "Still not willing on giving up on the whole Slytherin thing yet?" She asked. He could see a twinkle of amusement in her eye when she asked.

"You know I don't like it." He sighed "I still have no idea how I can go about getting out of it. I'm just…"

"…To far in?" She finished for him as she adjusted the board on the table. "You're getting closer and closer to where you want to be every day." She stated as he sat down on the floor on the other side of the table.

"You can start." He mumbled, ignoring her words.

The now confused and a bit angry Slytherin boys watched as the girl nodded and moved a piece forward. They had yet to clearly see her face since it was a bit dark in the common room. They watched her closely not taking their eyes off of her for a minute. They desperately wanted to know who this Ravenclaw girl was so they could stop her apparent corrupting of "their" Scorpios at once. For what seemed like forever they watched as she beat him in Wizards chess not getting even a hint as to who she was. Her name wasn't even mentioned once, because she herself never said it and Scorpios still had not asked her what it was. To add to their dismay she stayed basically in the shadows.

Finally one boy turned to Laura, (who was looking quite satisfied by now,) and asked her if she knew the identity of the girl. She shook her head.

"Not a clue." She replied.

"Well I'm going to find out!" He exclaimed gruffly. He told the rest of the boys that them simply watching as Scorpios betrayed them was useless as well as boring and it was time to confront him. Bored and annoyed they agreed and they all stepped out from behind the bookcase, causing much noise and disturbing the stillness and quiet atmosphere of the room.

The girl glanced up from the board to see the four of them standing behind Scorpios glaring at her. Scorpios turned around and stared at them, his face pale and a look of terror in his eyes. They didn't even bother looking at him though. They just continued glaring daggers at the girl as she calmly stood not saying a word. She walked around the table and stood directly in front of the boy in the front who was a few years older and much taller then her. Despite this however she looked him dead in the eye not looking the least bit threatened.

"May I help you?" She asked him coolly after a few moments, breaking the tense silence. Her face was now clearly visible to him and he recognized her as the girl who was always trying to speak to Scorpios, the one who they called a nerd at the quidditch game. He hated her, more then he already had before.

"Can't you just leave him alone nerd?" He replied coldly.

"He came to **me**, actually." She told him smiling slightly. "He doesn't want to be one of you and you have to accept that."

"If that's true it's only because of you. You've gone and corrupted him!" He shouted in her face pointing an angry finger at Scorpios. She remained calm and noticed behind the boys was Laura standing a short distance away grinning at her maliciously. She put the pieces together and realized it was Laura who had brought them here most likely jealous thinking her and Scorpios were in a relationship and this would wreck it.

"He never even wanted to be one of you in the first place." She replied looking back at the boy. The boy's face became red with anger as he looked for the first time at Scorpios who was now standing a little ways behind the girl.

"Is that true? You want to be a _Ravenclaw_?" He asked in a demanding voice, saying _Ravenclaw_ with a heavy disgust in his voice. Everyone turned to look at Scorpios.

He looked at the boy staring angrily at him and the other two standing behind him serious looks on their faces. He looked at the girl who was also looking at him, a look of encouragement on her face as she told him; "go ahead," with her eyes.

"Yes," He said nervously. The boys looked at him in disbelief.

"What did you say?" Asked one of them.

"I said 'Yes.' " He replied his voice more confident this time. "I am not a Slytherin, I am a Ravenclaw. The sorting hat is **never** wrong, and **this** is the house I was sorted in to."

The girl couldn't help but smile at the shock on the boys faces.

"What did I tell you?" She told them. "I'm merely just his friend who helped him from getting too lost in what he wasn't." Not one of the boys knew what to say.

"She gave me advice and saw me for what I was. For the past week she's just listened to me and taught me how to play Wizards chess so I could play my dad." Scorpios said as he smiled as well.

"Is that alright with you Laura?" She asked looking towards the girl who simply blushed and turned away not saying anything.

"If you don't mind we have a game to get back to right now actually," Scorpios said before turning away and sitting down once again on the floor by the table. **She** took one last look at the extremely baffled Slytherin boys before turning to walk back to her chair, sitting down and quietly resuming the game.

After a few moments they left and Laura went up to her room to go to sleep. It was nearing one in the morning and there were classes tomorrow. Once they finished they too realized they should get some sleep and that tomorrow would be an exhausting day with talk of his sudden change to be spread like a wildfire by the Slytherin. As she put away the pieces and the board he walked to the stairs leading to his dorm. He stopped at the first step and walked back as she picked up the wooden box and reached for her parchment.

"Um... I just realized…." He started to say.

"….That you still don't know my name after all this time?" She finished for him as she picked up her feather and looked up at him. "I was wondering when you would ask me." She smiled. He shrugged blushing slightly.

"I thought a few times of asking you but I was too scared to." He said quietly.

"It's Esmeralda." She whispered in his ear like it was some sort of secret. "Esmeralda, Iris, Grey." He looked at her closely as she waited for his opinion.

"It fits." He said after a moment. "I like it, I like it a lot." She smiled and nodded.

"Thanks. I like it too." She chuckled a bit to herself.

"What?" He asked.

"Well," She replied. "Considering how much trouble you put you're self through because of your last name I find something sort of ironic that's all."

"Oh?" He asked curiously. "What's that?"

"I've always liked your name. They way it sounds when someone says it, I don't think evil when I here it like most would, I just think one way or another that it sounds…. important." She looked at him closely. "Scorpios_ Malfoy_" She said in a serious voice. He smiled as she said it a few more times.

"Important eh?" He asked her. She nodded her head.

"Yet somehow how it fits you."

The next day he woke up with the sun shining right in his face practically blinding him. He looked tiredly at the empty room realizing he had slept too late and that if he didn't hurry he would miss breakfast. As he got dressed he suddenly remembered the events of last night all at once. He was a Ravenclaw, he had admitted it, he had found out the name of the girl, she had told him how much she actually liked his name.

A grin spread across his face. He went to his trunk picked out a piece of parchment and a quill and penned a quick letter.

_Dear father, _

_I know it's been almost two months and I haven't written you except to tell you bit's and pieces about my classes and that I wasn't sorted in to Slytherin. I am now writing to tell you I am a Ravenclaw and though I've had a bit of trouble I am very happy with this house. I have been learning Wizards chess from my friend Esmeralda. She's quite good and I have yet to beat her though I hope to have a chance to beat you when I come home over winter holiday. I also would like you to meet her at some point over the holiday; if I can't beat you she might be able too. I think you'll like her a lot; she's very kind and wise. She says funny things about names and titles. She says she likes my name and that it sounds important to her. I'll have to ask her what she thinks of yours. I'll tell you in my next letter._

_Your son,_

_Scorpios _H. Malfoy

_**N/A Months of work…or collectively about two- four days... maybe five…six? Any way this is probably the worlds longest one-shot! I wouldn't be too surprised... despite that though I will not give in to the temptation to publish it in several chapters! Mad props if you read it all in one sitting! Virtual high fives and chocolate frogs for all reviewers! I don't care if it's a bad review…REVIEWS ARE GOLD! Oh and on a somewhat unrelated note it took about 10 minute to come up with her first name, I went on a baby name site but in the end decided on one of my aliases and a name I really like and used in a few other things including a novel I'm writing which is where I got the last name as well. I got the middle name from searching on a baby name site for about 15minutes! I love the song Iris and I thought it fit!**_


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